Amber and I kicked off the weekend with a stroll around the flea market at Place Van Meenen, followed by coffee and cake at Archive Music, a little café and record store we stumbled upon when we stayed in the neighbourhood last September. We returned to Saint-Gilles later in the evening to meet my colleague Patti and her friend for dinner. We ate at Comer, which had been on my to-visit list for a few weeks. The theme of finally visiting restaurants I’ve been wanting to try continued on Sunday, when we walked over to Chyl for brunch. I used to walk past this café all the time, but it was always late in the evening and past its closing time. At Chyl’s shop, we found a few things I had been looking for — coconut water and frozen peas — and a local sweet that I am excited to try.
It was an eventful weekend, and by afternoon, I was so tired that I took a nap (something I always avoid because it can trigger migraines for me). When I woke up, I realised how our immigration paperwork could impact my work travel later this year, and my mood soured immediately. I lost my cool, and it only got worse from there. It wasn’t the kind of end you want to a weekend, but c’est la vie. Tiredness was a theme last week, too. Despite still feeling quite tired, we schlepped to Bois de la Cambre on Monday after work for a short hike. I don’t what I did wrong, but my right foot arch started to hurt halfway. With a couple of short breaks, I made it through but the evening ended up being far less enjoyable than I would have liked. All of this also resulted in the house being left a bit of a mess, and we only got around to getting it ship-shape on Thursday. At least that means there is less to do today.
Midweek, Kaat and I had lunch together. I first met her last month at the launch of Fine Specimens. It was lovely to chat and get to know her a little, and I’m so grateful that she took the time to come down to Brussels.
I didn’t get as much done at work as I would have liked, but it was steady. I am stuck drawing a few Gurmukhi letters, and I think a break from them will help. On the flipside, I turned around another draft of the Gujarati lettering quickly, and came close to finalising some new work. Apart from the day-to-day, I had an interview about the book, and I recorded an episode of a podcast.
I caught up with Noopur and Aadarsh on Friday, and then Amber and I went to the new English bookstore by Passa Porta, where I picked up Bring No Clothes. I’m hoping to start reading it on the weekend. From there we walked to Jardin du Mont des Arts, where we loved looking at some of the public art: Oscar Jespers’ La Musique et Le Chant and the Carillon du Mont des Arts. When I first saw La Musique et Le Chant, I think there was a Common Wood Pigeon sitting on one of the figures, and I imagined (hoped?) that it was a sculpture about two people birdwatching. We happened to be at the park at a half hour, and so we got to hear the clocks chime at the Carillon du Mont des Arts. Now I want to go back at noon, when they are supposed to put on a real show.
I was quite knackered and we were waiting for the tram back home when the sun came out and I thought it would be nice to spend a little time at Brussels Park. That was an excellent decision. Amber and I sat on a bench, listened to the music playing nearby, and shared a cola. The week really turned around for me, and for that I’m very thankful.